ROANOKE, VA. – The Rail Yard Dawgs demolished the Macon Mayhem in a 10-1 victory at Berglund Center on Thursday night. The nine-goal win was the largest margin of victory in franchise history, breaking the previous record of six set against the Columbus Cottonmouths in a 7-1 win on January 28, 2017.
Mac Jansen, CJ Stubbs, Matt O’Dea, and Brady Heppner scored twice each for Roanoke, while Billy Vizzo and Brant Sherwood also tallied goals for the Dawgs.
The first period saw Roanoke take the lead within 40 seconds due to a Jansen goal on a loose puck in the crease. After Macon equalized at the 5:31 mark, Jansen scored again on a shorthanded finish just over two minutes later. The Dawgs never looked back, and an O’Dea snipe gave Roanoke a 3-1 lead at the end of the first period.
Roanoke’s early power play goal in the second period by O’Dea seemed to finally squash Macon’s spirits for good. A Heppner pick-pocket and score just 81 seconds later added insult to injury, making it 5-1 Dawgs with 17:07 left in the second period. That prompted a goalie change for Macon, as Gregg Hussey took over for starter Michael Stiliadis. It didn’t help much, as Stubbs scored twice within 90 seconds before Vizzo and Sherwood added goals later in the period to make it 9-1 Roanoke when the second period ended.
The third period featured some chippy play, with Macon showing obvious frustration after a second consecutive poor game defensively. Heppner added his second at the 8:53 mark, but save a fight between Jesse Anderson and Caleb Cameron, the rest of the period featured a heap of penalties before the buzzer finally sounded for a dominant Roanoke victory.
Austyn Roudebush made 24 saves on 25 shots faced for the Dawgs, while Macon’s goaltenders combined for 22 saves on 32 shots. The Dawgs are now in fifth place in the SPHL standings with a 16-7-6 record.
The Dawgs will be on the road tomorrow night at Pelham Civic Complex to face the Birmingham Bulls. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:35 p.m. EST. Wisler Plumbing and Air Family Four Packs, group tickets, and single game tickets for home games are on sale now, and you can listen to the game on the Haley Toyota Rail Yard Dawgs Hockey Network via Mixlr or watch it on HockeyTV.
Photo Credit: Mark Sawyer